WITH TV showing programmes such as New Tricks and NCIS, people have become armchair detectives.

Thousands of hours have been worked by police investigating Claudia Lawrence’s disappearance, yet Pam Frankland comes up with her opinion that the university building site may reveal clues.

How does she know that the police did not search there? George Appleby then suggests files are left to gather dust, yet it is still an active enquiry.

These comments must upset officers working on the case and distress the Lawrence family.

I retired from the police long before this incident so could not comment; one day the vital piece of the jigsaw may be found.

The comments about the Rawdon Avenue murder refers to Norma Dale found on what is now the nature reserve which occurred in the early 1950s.

In 1966 I was a police cadet in the CID office of the then York City Police. To understand how murder was then investigated, I was shown the file on Norma Dale, which was huge.

Officers from Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad had attended to take control.

In the days before DNA and forensic science, it was down to foot slogging and card indices.

I was not party to the identity of anyone in the files but was given advice by a senior detective which I remembered through my service: “We may know who did a crime, but it has to be backed up with evidence”.

Norma would now probably be in her 70s so most suspects and witnesses have probably passed away.

Name and address supplied.